A story fresh from the Housesitter Files...
I’ve had some excitement in my neck of the woods lately! Excitement, I have come to realize, is inevitable when you are house-sitting for a friend. Last time is was the mysterious person that knocked on the front door at 10:300 at night. (Ever heard knuckles on panels of glass? Sounds very thin, very rattle-y, and very unprotecting!). Thank goodness that hasn’t happened again. No, this bit of excitement involved the pet chickens I am watching along with the house, dog and plants. The two chickens ,Tootsie and Spot who are domesticated, friendly and are very cherished by their two young owners, like to “free range” around the small backyard. Any “free-ranging” must be done under supervision of course (Gumbo and Sweet Home don’t you laugh at that line. The importance of it will be seen momentarily). On Tuesday morning, I decided that I could…what do you call it “chicken sit” or “range watch” the chickens as I had my morning devotions. I was sitting in the living room, comfortably nestled on the leather couch, sipping orange spice tea with my Bible on my lap, when a cacophony of terrified chicken “ba-kahs” erupted from the backyard. Turning, I saw a commotion of feathers and wings, and what appeared to be one of the chickens flying into the backyard of the house behind! I ran outside, faintly wondering how I was going locate the correct house and introduce myself at the door:
“Hi, my name is Cathryn. Would you please do me a favor and see if you have a chicken in your backyard?”
Really.
Very unhappy and unsettled chicken noices were proceeding out of some bushes so I stuck my head between the thick branches and saw to my surprise, not one, but two chickens. Two? But I had witnessed one of them fly over the fence. I looked up and my eyes met the disappointed glare of Copper’s Hawk sitting atop the patio covering of the backyard neighbors. So that is what is was! The hawk had been trying to get the chickens!
It took a while to get the chickens back into their coop, but when it was accomplished the thought crossed my mind, wow, that would have been an awkward phone conversation…
“Hi Mrs. P. I hope your vacation is going well. Just thought I ‘d let you know that Tootsie was eaten by a Cooper’s hawk!”
Really.
Credits:
As much as I would like to claim the authorship of the cool title picture, I can't. I got is off of http://www.letsposephotography.com/storage/chichens.jpg
1 comment:
C.,
Sooo funny! I'll have to share this with my D.H. who has just recently let go his dream of having chickens in the back yard. Love, T
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